Technology, Design & the Business of Aging – Canada

Time to shine some light on Canada’s initiatives where technology, design and the business of aging connect. In previous blog posts, I’ve referenced TAGlab (Technologies for Aging Gracefully) which is now set to receive funding from another new organization from the Canadian Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) – AGE-WELL. (Yes, this too isan acronym.)

As you sift through the larger story of NCE’s, it’s obvious that the government recognizes that the business and social aspects of aging demographics is an area that deserves further research, design and innovation in technology, In January 2015, the Minister of State for Seniors, Alice Wong, announced a five year $36.6M investment in AGE-WELL.

As is the entrepreneurial norm in these ventures, everything is about collaborations, partnerships. If you follow the AGE-WELL storyboard, these networked alliances as I call them, are like watching an endless line of credits in a major movie production. Like the Stanford Center on Longevity and Aging 2.0, this Canadian example replicates this fusion of academia, government and business.

With all this, we are looking at another layer of the investment cake in the “longevity market”. It is simply dizzying, but follow the money. The aging process is big business and as far as I can see it has more significance than talking about seniors, however we’ve defined that. The subject of “wellness, engagement and long life” as AGE-WELL supports is an inter-generational life course issue.

At what point will all this technology and design become mainstream in our economy?